‘Some irresponsible shots including mine’: Rohit upset with MI batting after five-time champions face 8th straight loss

Rohit Sharma looked good during his 31-ball 39 on Sunday but Mumbai Indians kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Lucknow Super Giants went on to clinch the IPL 2022 game by 36 runs. The five-time champions were playing in front of the electric Wankhede crowd but suffered their eighth straight defeat of the tournament, becoming the only team in the history of the tournament to achieve the dubious record. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)

While opposition skipper KL Rahul continued his dominance with his second ton of the season against Mumbai, Dushmantha Chameera conceded only 14 runs in 4 overs to restrict Mumbai to 132 for 8. Former Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya also chipped in with three wickets and conceded just 19 runs. The race to playoffs is all but over for Mumbai and Rohit blamed it on poor batting show. The 34-year-old opening batter also spoke about his team’s lacklustre batting display this year.

“I thought we bowled pretty okay. It was a good pitch to bat on but we didn’t bat well enough. We should have chased that down. When you have a target like that, you need that partnership, which we couldn’t do. Some irresponsible shots including mine. They bowled well in the middle. We haven’t batted well in the tournament. You have to ensure one of the batter bats long but we have failed to do that in this tournament,” said Rohit Sharma in a post-match presentation.

When asked about Tim David’s inclusion in the playing eleven, Rohit said the team is trying to present its players with a continuous run without making too many changes. David, the Singapore batter, was dropped from the eleven after Mumbai lost first two games of the ongoing 10-team competition.

“Everyone has come into discussion given how our tournament has gone. We need to ensure that we have a settled team and give players in the middle a fair chance,” he said when asked if there is a chance for Tim David to come into the equation.

“Their roles are different when they play for their countries and here we expect something else from them. We tried not to make too many changes, and we have tried to play the best combination possible.

‘But when you lose games, you always have such discussions. As far as I am concerned, I want to give people enough chances to prove themselves. The season hasn’t gone the way we would have wanted it to, but such things happen,” Rohit concluded.

With the win, Lucknow joined Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore on 10 points, just two behind table-toppers Gujarat Titans. Mumbai, on the other hand, remain winless so far. They next face Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals on Saturday.